Don’t Trade Cryptocurrency; Danish Bank Warns

As Cryptocurrencies take a plunge in the market and Bitcoin goes below the $7,500 mark, Denmark’s biggest bank; Danske Bank based in Copenhagen has issued a warning against investing in cryptocurrencies.

One of the reasons given is, like any other fiat currency or real money, its either backed by the government or by the Gold standard. However, cryptocurrencies are not backed anyone or investor and consumer protection are limited to the same liabilities as fiat currencies.

The mere fact that the increase or decrease in price is determined by the hype in the market and its high volatility is the bank’s second reason. Therefore price fluctuation cannot be determined or controlled.

The obvious and most important reason is lack of transparency and regulatory control as the major reasons for their stand and the institution believes it is its obligation to assist in the fight against money laundering and other financial crimes.

Cryptocurrencies at present do not provide a sufficient level of transparency for the bank to meet anti-money laundering (AML) obligations, the notice stated.

An excerpt read: For these reasons, it is not possible to trade cryptocurrencies on the bank’s trading platforms. However, the bank does monitor the market closely, and if the cryptocurrency market becomes more transparent and mature, the bank might reconsider this position.

“We do not in any way want to support the investment environment surrounding cryptocurrencies,” the notice added. It has phased out the possibility of purchasing financial instruments directly related to the prices of cryptocurrencies.

Such instruments can include exchange trade notes that mirror the price of cryptocurrency, the bank noted. Such securities, it claimed, are characterized by high risk and volatility.

In compensation, the bank is providing an alternative stating that if it has to accept funds originating from cryptocurrency investments, it would treat it like every other investment transactions; meaning it must comply with the existing AML anti-procedures and regulations.

Funding Has Arrived For Blockchain Start-Ups In Africa

Binance labs, the self-acclaimed strongest network of Builders in blockchain is at it again and this time focuses on the continent with the most need for the blockchain. According to the platform, “Binance Labs is a social impact fund and an initiative to incubate, invest and empower blockchain and cryptocurrecny entrepreneurs, projects and communities”.

Its mission is to realize the full potential of Blockchain technology- and they has already actively involved the Nigeria, most populated nation in Africa.

Great news is that Binance Labs has made open her intention to fund African blockchain start-ups. In a recent post, Binance Labs made available the link to sign up form calling for applications from Blockchain startups in the ecosystem.

“Binance Labs is the best place for blockchain to build thier projects and c=achieve product-market fit. With the african blockchain ecosystem still in its nascent stage, this offers tremendous value to African projects as we are able to plug them into the top one percent of mentors, founders, investors and blockchain-focused service providers from the global Binance network”.

Thus it goes to say that at the end of the this incubation period, all projects successfully on-boarded would have access to over $120,000USD as support funds and a network of industry leaders associated with Binance within and outside the continent.

According to Binance labs, Public Blockchains, Decentralized Exchanges (DEX), Wallets & Payment, Stable Digital Currencies, ATS/Security Token Platforms and dApps are the investment focus in view for this 10 week-long Incubator program

For Entreprenuers, the support packages are Funding, Go-to-market strategy, Token Model and Distribution, Technical Review Listing Advice and Talent Recruiting.

Whats your take on this? do you think it would have a great effect on the adoption in Africa? Does Binance have what it takes to build a Blockchain system the Nigerian government would support?

Related

The year brings forth great news despite the currently trending news on price nose dive in the crypto market. Amongst many, is the great research and recent discovery of new ways financial systems can best provide loans. In clearer terms, it would soon be very possible to carry out loan transactions with your bank directly without the banks having to deal with credit bureaus and any other third-party entity.

According to bloomberg, Spring labs is testing a decentralized peer-to-peer model built from partnership with 16 lenders and Fintech firms, some of which are SoFi, OnDeckCapital and Avant.

The present situation is that banks give out the data of their customers to credit bureaus for free and then have to buy it back as credit reports from these credit bureaus simply because they cannot carry out credit checks as stipulated under current regulatory and competition frameworks. Thus, banks definitely have to deal with third-parties such as Equifax Inc and Experian Plc to disburse loans.

In an interview, Adam Jiwan the CEO of Spring Labs said that the blockchain and its open ledger system would help run the verification processes which the credit bureaus once did. This statement was backed up by the unanimous decision of interest from the 16 lenders lenders who would love to see the peer-to-peer system, which cuts off all third-parties launch successfully.

It is no news that Blockchain can solve a lot of issues for corporate entities if and only if these corporations can identify the use case to which to apply the technology and most importantly if these corporate bodies are going to open their doors to possible partnership with experts in the field, though Spring labs have set the ball rolling.

The technology to be tested uses a “tripple-blind” method of information sharing where nothing relating to the identities of both parties (lender and customer) is made public and at the same time, Spring labs would have no form of access to the information being shared. “This would be made possible by the combined use of cryptography, blockchain and privacy enabling technology”, Jiwan said.

Some incentives in form of digital asset, would be made available to customers so as to get them to provide their information. In the CEO’s words; “ the goal is to pay customers for sharing their information with the native digital asset”.

Furthermore, spring labs intends to drastically reduce fraud with this new model. Also, crowd-sourcing would be the new method of building clientele for banks offering loans instead of just limited exchange between banks and the credit bureaus.

The tests are already ongoing and the launch date for the information sharing and anti-fraud services are slated to be due in the first half of 2019.

Spring labs, has its offices at Chicago and Los Angeles and is advised by former Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn.

Do you think Spring Labs can pull this off against credit bureau giants like Equifax Inc? Would the Government be in support of this? Share your opinion with us in the comment section below.

Disclaimer:
The Information provided on the website is designed to provide helpful information regarding blockchain and cryptocurrency. The content is not meant to be used, nor should it be used as a basis, foundational knowledge or prerequisite for decision making regarding investment into cryptocurrency. We are not liable for any outcome based on any content found on the site.

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Banks Collaborate Using Blockchain Technology

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology has been an avenue for individuals, organizations and corporations to make money, create value and reduce the cost of carrying out transactions. Banks have not welcomed the idea as it seems to threaten their very existence. The technology which at a glance seems to eliminate them as middlemen and connect the buyers with their sellers directly is eventually tending towards that direction.

However, some banks don’t share the same sentiments and have begun to make effort to find ways to collaborate with the technology to drive economic growth and provide value to its customers.

Such is the case of some Banks in Thailand, collaborating together to achieve a successful blockchain-powered cross-border funds transfer from its country to Singapore. The effort which involved various multinationals including Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation, independent group company and Japan’s largest bank MUFG – which operates independently, and Singapore-based banking giant Standard Chartered.

Thailands bank of Ayudhya revealed in an announcement, the successful pilot testing regarding international remittance from a local bank account to a Standard Charted account in Singapore using its own Blockchain. It was stated that the transaction was made possible with the blockchain technology. In the statement, Krungsri head of digital banking and innovation Thakorn Piyapan said:

The transaction was conducted under the guidelines of the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox, thereby putting them in the clear of violating any regulations. Krungsri, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MUFG, is the latest Thai bank to successfully try blockchain technology for remittance ahead of adoption.

Nearly a year ago, Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) collaborated with Japan’s SBI Remit to launch a retail remittance bank service powered by Ripple’s blockchain tech. With nearly 50,000 Thai nationals living and working in Japan, the remittance corridor between the two countries sees approximately $250 million in transfers each year.

This achievement is a big foot and a boost in the propagation of the gospel of blockchain and cryptocurrency around the world. Foretelling the widespread adoption of this technology by banks. This foot is expected to repeat itself again

Related

Finterra Launches Kenyan Operations.

Impressed with the enthusiastic involvement displayed at the recently concluded World Blockchain Summit that held in Nairobi, Kenya in March 2018. Finterra has decided to launch its operations in the nation’s capital.

Based on a research carried out by the Fintech firm, it was revealed that there is an increasing interest and application of the blockchain technology in various sectors. The findings from this research was one of the motivating factors to join the market climb as it would be Finterra’s first investment on the continent. The technological growth experienced in the country and the governments support for the blockchain technology is the other reason.

The Singapore-based firm has created a crowdfunding platform that enables users to create smart contracts for various projects such as land and construction projects. Additionally, Finterra offers products such as endowment chain, loyalty exchange program, and a development environment for co-creation and collaboration for individuals and organisations.

Hamid Rashid, Finterra’s CEO, said in a statement:

“To make the best use of these endowed gifts, the Endowment Chain allows participants to create project proposals to develop and invigorate endowment properties. Others can fund these project proposals by contributing funds. If the project goals are met, the project proposal is accepted and a certain number of Endowment tokens are created and distributed to the participating funders.”

The value of the blockchain technology is so valuable that many use cases are popping up which would give the technology the much-needed awareness to drive larger adoptions. The goal is to contribute to what is already being done by introducing an e-commerce and land management platform on the blockchain thereby enhancing the online shopping experience and also the elimination of duplication of land purchasing documents or records.

Finterra held a three-day event with stakeholders in the industry on how to discuss the blockchain use cases and the other untapped avenues on the Blockchain. The intention is to work with mobile money operators, hotels and paid television service providers. It is obvious that they are in a welcoming environment that supports the technology, hopefully, Finetrra would integrate successfully.

Kenya’s embrace for blockchain is welcoming. Should other Africa countries follow in their footsteps? Lets hear from you in the comment section below!

Image Credit: CNN

Disclaimer:
The Information provided on the website is designed to provide helpful information regarding cryptocurrency subjects. The content is not meant to be used, nor should it be used as a basis, foundational knowledge or prerequisite for decision making regards trading. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. We are not liable for any outcome based on any content found on the site.